Operations Research (IO). It is the science that develops a whole set of scientifically based quantitative methods that can be used in the decision-making process.
Summary
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- 1 Emergence
- 2 General
- 3 Methods
- 4 Limitations
- 5 Source
Emergence
Operations research as a science is located at the beginning of World War II . Since then there was concern about the military high command of England and then the United States. of the need to make rational use of the most deficient resources in the military operations and the activities within them. (resources that in time of war turn out to be scarcer). The British and US military administrations brought together large numbers of scientists to investigate military operations and apply scientific procedures in solving tactical and strategic problems. These scientific teams were the first of operations research. The solutions given by these teams allowed important battles to be won for these countries. After the end of the war, due to the success of military operations research, the Industry became interested in this science for two fundamental reasons:
- Industrial organizations were already more complex and specialized.
- Basically the problems of the military industry were the same as those of these organizations, that is: the limitation of resources.
As early as 1951 Britain had dominated the field of Operations Research and the US was in the process of doing so. There are two important aspects that influenced the development of (IO) as a science, these are:
- The substantial progress that was made to improve the techniques available for (IO).
- The computer revolution.
General
IO is a scientific procedure for making decisions about the operations of organizational systems. The IO presupposes the use of models and quantitative methods for decision making. Most applications of quantitative methods take place in the context of models. The quantitative methods studied by (IO) can be used to:
- Guide the decision-making process.
- Assist the decision-making process.
- Automate the decision-making process.
Methods
The quantitative methods that the IO develops among others are the following:
- Decision theory .
- Linear programming .
- Solution Methods .
- Duality theory .
- Programming in integers 2 .
- Multi-criteria programming .
- Meta programming .
- Queuing theory .
- Game theory .
- Simulation .
- Replenishment .
- Network theory .
- Inventory Theory .
Limitations
There are objective and subjective conditions that attempt against an efficient application of the techniques or methods that are grouped under the (IO). Objectives:
- Resources
- Technology
- Environment
- Location
Subjective:
- Qualification of the staff.
- Experience on the technique
